Pratt Exhibition: Cold War Cool Digital

Through March 20, a show on prefab mass housing systems from the Cold War era.

This week Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture launched an exhibition of Cold War-era prefab housing systems. Called “COLD War COOL Digital” and held in conjunction with a Feb. 28 symposium, the show takes a look at 20 modernist prefab housing systems. 6 of the highlighted prototypes came from the USSR, and several from France, and many of them were adapted worldwide to different climates and cultures. “There were 190 million apartments built using this technology during the 50s, 60s and early 70s,” says Catherine Ingraham, a Pratt architecture professor and the show’s curator. “In a way what I think the show does is show how these big, rigid systems began to transform.”

The Feb. 28 symposium will feature an international roster of speakers and will “look at new digital prototypes for composite construction,” Ingraham says. COLD war COOL digital will run through March 20 at Pratt's Brooklyn campus; click here for details on the exhibition and symposium.